


The Great Divide Chapter 21: Crawl

by Antigravity_Carnivore



Series: The Great Divide [21]
Category: Breaking Benjamin (Band), STARSET (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Computers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Future, Gay, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Psychological Torture, Rebellion, Technology, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 07:13:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13922028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antigravity_Carnivore/pseuds/Antigravity_Carnivore
Summary: In a desperate attempt to find their friends, Thomas and Lizzie wander around the deserted F.E.C. base, unaware of the evil that is lurking in the shadows, waiting for them.





	The Great Divide Chapter 21: Crawl

Thomas and Lizzie walked through the twisting corridors of the F.E.C. base in silence, trying to find their way to the control room. As they navigated the twisting hallways, Lizzie would occasionally stop and look at the comm device on her wrist, counting down the minutes. Every step that they took slowly ate away at the free time that they had before the base would be totally destroyed. The more she looked at the countdown, she noticed the faster that Thomas’s pace became, and she struggled to keep up. Her thoughts were of Burnley, and how the final confrontation with him would play out. She knew that she had to be the one to kill him, and she had to do it quickly. He was clever, and incredibly sharp witted, and if given the chance, would surely find a way to manipulate Thomas or anyone else against her. She couldn’t think of the possibility of him hurting the man that she loved. Thomas was everything to her.

As they reached the upper levels of the base, Thomas stopped suddenly, almost causing Lizzie to walk right into him. Startled, she looked at him curiously. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Taking a breath, Thomas sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. She saw worry lines form on his face, and it seemed like he was getting anxious. “We’re running out of time.” Lizzie frowned; he said exactly what she was thinking, but didn’t want to draw attention to the matter. Almost instinctively she knew was his next words were going to be. “Lizzie, if things go bad, I want you to run, towards the northeast exit. It should only take you about 10 minutes to find it. Get out and find Aaron’s vehicle.”

“What? Thomas no! That’s a ridiculous suggestion. I am not leaving you, or any of our friends behind. If things DO get bad then they are going to need us to stand with them, not run away and try to save ourselves.”

Taking hold of her hands, Thomas gripped them tightly. “You don’t understand. If what Aaron said is true, then we’ve got even less time that what is showing on that timer. I was thinking about the amount of explosive that was probably planted on the base, along with the most key locations where it would be placed. When the detonation occurs, it’s going to be massive. The explosion won’t be limited to just the structure; it’s going to destroy the surrounding area as well, killing everything within a 5 mile radius. We’re going to need extra time to distance ourselves from the facility before it goes up, or else we’re going to be caught in it. I want you to be safe.”

“No.” Lizzie said, calmly and confidently. “We’re in this together. No matter what happens, I want to be here at your side, until the end.” Her eyes were welling up with tears. “Got it?”

Nodding to her Thomas gave her a prideful smile. He knew that he was truly blessed to have her, and wished that they would be given the chance to start their life together. Leaning forward, he kissed the top of her head and she closed her eyes for a moment. The feeling of his lips was not something she was quite used to yet, and a flush of color spread it’s way down over her cheeks as he pulled away. “Got it.” He said with a smile. Taking hold of her hand, he laced his fingers together with hers and started moving onward into the inner sections of the base.

It wasn’t long before they came across a darkened corridor that led on for what seemed like forever, with only one entrance. As they walked by it, Lizzie stopped and Thomas looked at her curiously. “I’ve been here before.” She whispered. A chill ran down her spine. Walking up to the sealed door, Lizzie gazed at it curiously. It did not have a card reader on it, but instead a metal plate which had the indentation of a hand on it. “I think there’s someone in here.” She said quietly. Thomas pulled out the laser rifle he had strapped to his back and aimed it at the lock. “No! Wait!” Lizzie begged and pushed the barrel of the gun down. Thomas looked at her confused as she stepped forward and placed the palm of her hand onto the panel. There were a series of high pitched beeps and then the lock released from the catch, and the door slid open easily.

Lizzie turned back around to Thomas who was frowning. She thought he’d be pleased with her. What was this look of disappointment? “Carnivore DNA.” He said. “I’ve seen those locks before and they can only be opened by either the high command members of the F.E.C. or the Carnivores. I am pretty sure that you’re not a spy, Lizzie, so that means that you still have traces of Carnivore DNA cycling through your system. It hasn’t completely left you yet. How did you know that you could open that door?”

“I… I don’t know…” She stammered, trying to search her still cloudy memories for an answer. Everything eluded her like ice on a spoon. “I’ve been here before, when Burnley converted me. That’s all I remember. I don’t know how… I don’t know… I don’t…” Lizzie struggled, trying to force the memories to come, but they wouldn’t. The harder she tried, the more her head hurt. The answers were so close and yet so far. Why couldn’t she remember? Clenching her teeth, she let out a annoyed cry of frustration. To her surprise, Thomas came over and wrapped his arms around her, comforting her.

“Hey, hey, hey…it’s okay. Lizzie none of that bullshit matters anymore. YOU are the only thing that matters now. You have to accept that I am going to love you, no matter what.” Thomas waited a moment, until she calmed down and then took hold of her hand. “Let’s go see what’s so top secret in there.” Moving her behind him, Thomas let go of her and took hold of his weapon, and stepped into the darkness of the room beyond. The first thing that hit him was the vast darkness that encompassed the room with its foreboding thickness. It was tremendously cold, so cold that as he walked forward with Lizzie behind him, every single breath he took crystallized in the chilled air. “Lights.” He whispered back to her. He didn’t know why he whispered, but he had a feeling it was the right thing to do.

Taking a few steps to the right, Lizzie reached for a small control panel. “Here.” She said, thrusting her hand against it. The lights immediately flooded the room causing them both to shield their eyes for a moment. As the brilliance subsided, Thomas looked around to the massive room that they were in, letting out a gasp. High overhead, shielding out all the light were enormous, steel shutters that had been left open, revealing a row of glass windows and a observation deck above them, which appeared to be empty. Distracted for a moment, Thomas failed to see Lizzie bolting out from behind him and running to the center of the room.

“Lizzie, wait!” he called to her and then his eyes widened as he realized where she was going. In the center of the room was a metal gurney positioned over a drain embedded in the floor. Large, red puddles of blood surrounded the bed, obviously created by the unfortunate soul that was still strapped down to it. It was Benjamin. Pulling off his backpack and dropping his rifle to the ground, Thomas ran forward across the massive room and joined Lizzie at his side. The sight before him was horrendous. There was an intravenous rig embedded in his arm, attached to a long since empty bag of reddish brown liquid. The needle insertion site was raised up and swollen, colored in bright purple and blue colors around area where it had penetrated. A network of pronounced spider-like veins branched out along the flesh of his arm, the obvious sign of infection. His body was naked, except for a thin sheet carelessly thrown across his mid-section, revealing a very fresh wound, possibly created by a knife that was crudely stitched up. The entire gurney was covered in dried blood, which stood out in stark contrast from the paleness of Ben’s skin. Thomas’s heart sank, seeing him like this. Lizzie stood next to him, unusually silent and withdrawn. He knew that she was feeling the same thing that he was. Gently, she reached out and touched Thomas’s hand.

“He’s still alive.” She whispered.

Thomas grabbed hold of the side rails of the bed; he felt like he had just been hit with a huge wave. Seeing Ben like this made him feel sick and nauseous, and couldn’t stand to bear the thought of this magnificent man brought down and defeated like this. It was all his fault. He was the one who gave the F.E.C. the coordinates for the Messenger’s base, and then let them come in and take Ben away. It was Thomas’s own jealousy and rage that caused the man that he once loved to be brought here and tortured. None of them would have been in this position if it wasn’t for him, and his blind envy.

“We need to get that needle out.” Lizzie said quietly. Thomas could do nothing but nod. He grabbed hold of the stained sheet and pulled it up, covering Ben’s chest, trying his best to give him some modesty. She went to work immediately, taking great care not to further aggravate or collapse the irritated veins that the needle had been inserted into. Her small fingers easily slid it out, and much to her surprise, not a single drop of blood welled up.

Thomas grabbed hold of the cuffs and chains that held Benjamin down to the bed and gave them a quick yank. There was no leverage, nor did they budge at all. The links which were attached to Ben’s wrists and ankles were secured in place by electronic locks, which required a code. Cursing to himself, Thomas knew that he had to get Ben out of there and on his feet as soon as possible, but he just didn’t know how. Shooting the locks was completely out of the question, they were too close to his body and the heat from the bolt of electricity would be hot enough to sear flesh. He couldn’t break the bonds by hand either; it seemed hopeless. He glanced over to Lizzie, who was feeling for Ben’s pulse. “How is he?”

“He has a good, strong pulse, which is odd, considering the trauma that it looks like his body has been through. Stable, at least for the moment.”

Thomas started to pace around the gurney. He remembered the CCTV footage of Benjamin and Brock together. “Brock did this, I just know it.”

Lizzie sighed. “You’re wrong, Thomas. Brock is one of us, he wouldn’t hurt Benjamin.”

“I know what I saw on that video. They were TOGETHER! We both know that Brock has absolutely no love for Benjamin because of Dustin. I think he took advantage of the situation with us all being separated and cornered him with the full intent to murder him in cold blood so that he would have Dustin all to himself. Somehow after the assault, Ben managed to escape and…”

“Thomas stop it!” Lizzie shouted. “I am not going to stand here and listen to these accusations! For one moment can you please just try and focus, instead of trying to find someone to place blame on? I love you very much, but you know that it drives me crazy when you do this. Haven’t you learned from the past that jumping to conclusions only gets you in trouble? These are our friends here. Brock, Dustin, Benjamin, Selene… we have to trust them and work together or else no one is getting out of here. I’ve known Brock longer than you have, and I can assure you that THIS is NOT something he could do.” Pausing, she took a breath and tossed the small needle she was still holding in her hand down to the floor in frustration, where it clattered and rolled somewhere out of sight. “Please?”

“Fuck.” Thomas muttered underneath his breath. “I am sorry. I know you’re right Lizzie. I just feel as though I am under so much pressure right now.”

Smiling at him, Lizzie shook her head. “It’s alright love, I’m here with you. We will get through this together.”

“Alright.” Thomas said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He knew that he had to keep it together, not just for his sake, but for everyone else as well. Lizzie knew this too, and was trying her best to be gentle in her words, but Thomas knew that this place was taking it’s toll on her as well, and they needed to get out of there, fast. “So if Benjamin’s not that injured, then why is he still unconscious?” he asked.

“The nearest I can tell is that he must have gone into shock after receiving that wound, and simply hasn’t come to yet. There’s no way of knowing what else was done to him and it’s possible that he might not be awaken for several hours, or even days.” Glancing up at Thomas, Lizzie gave him a stern look. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s dangerous! We can’t move him from this bed until we know the extent of his injuries. If there is spinal damage or…” Thomas thrust his hand out and grabbed hold of Lizzie’s wrist, twisting it so suddenly that it hurt. She let out a small cry, startled. It was a unexpected, out of character thing for him to do, and she wondered if he was really listening to what she said.

The timer displayed 59:00 minutes remaining. “Do you see this? We don’t have time to wait. Brock and Dustin are still out there somewhere and we’ve got to get out of here. If we stand here and wait, we’re sitting ducks for that psychopath Burnley to come in and screw with us.” Letting go of her wrist, Thomas stepped back, with a embarrassed look on his face. “Lizzie… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lash out at you like that.”

Rubbing her wrist, she smiled at Thomas and walked past him to pick up the supplies that he had dropped on his way into the room. Returning back to the bed, she unzipped the bag and dumped everything out, and started going through it. “Lizzie, talk to me.” Thomas said, watching her.

“You’re right.” She said, her voice shaking slightly. “We need to get out of here. This place is like a disease that we’re all infected with. The longer we stay here, the worse that it gets. I am going to try my best to bring him around and get him prepped to leave, but I can’t do anything about those locks on his wrists and ankles.”

Thomas took hold of one of the electronic cuffs and examined it again. “I need to go find something to release these.” He pointed to the large room above them. “That’s the control room I saw on the video, where I saw Benjamin and Dustin. I am going to go up there and see if there is anything I can use to get these locks undone. Will you be okay in here alone?”

Nodding, Lizzie started to rip open the gauze pads that she had taken out of the medical bags, already set and certain in her task. “Yes, but please don’t take too long.”

Reaching across the gurney, Thomas took hold of Lizzie’s hands again, causing her to drop the supplies she was working with, and she looked up at him, confused and a little irritated. “Lizzie, if something goes wrong, I want you to know that everything I’ve said to you is true. I love you so much that it hurts. You’re the missing piece of me that I’ve been searching for, for a long time. I am not ever going to let you go.” He slipped his hands up to her face, resting them on her cheeks and brought his lips to hers. Lizzie closed her eyes and let herself become caught up in the sweet, delightful kiss. His lips were dry, and cracked from being trapped outside in the horrid temperatures of the Prox noonday sun, but they still felt wonderful, warm and comforting on hers. She knew from that kiss that he truly loved her. For a moment, her mind drifted off and she started to think about the horrible secret that she still kept from him. Telling Thomas now would only make things worse. She had to wait and bide her time, until they were safe back at the Shallow Bay, with Burnley dead. Only then could she confess everything to him.

Letting her go, Thomas took one last look at the young woman in front of him. She was so beautiful, innocent and caring that sometimes even just thinking about her brilliance made him want to shed tears of joy. Quickly turning around, he started for the door, stopping to pick up the laser rifle that he had dropped earlier. Lizzie watched him as he slowly walked away, and then her eyes drifted up to the control panel room high overhead. She needed him to come back safe. So much was hanging in the balance.

A few moments passed and then Thomas was gone, leaving her alone with Benjamin. She looked down at his body and sighed. The man that lay in front of her was the mere shadow of the one who had turned up unexpectedly at the messengers base. Once muscular and well toned, he was now thin and gaunt, having suffered weeks of imprisonment at the hands of the F.E.C. Thomas had fallen in love with this man, and she silently wondered if there still would be any feelings between the two of them. Cursing underneath her breath Lizzie forced the thoughts out of her head. She had just given Thomas a warning about letting his emotions cloud over his judgment, and now here she was, being a complete hypocrite and allowing the same thing to happen to her. Moistening a bit of gauze with some antiseptic chemicals, she went about her work, using gentle strokes to clean the bits of dried blood and dirt away from Benjamin’s wound. It had been crudely and hastily stitched up, by a untrained, shaky hand but it was enough to stop the bleeding. The threat of infection was still incredibly high, and she knew that it would take a great deal of care to get Ben out of the base without causing even more damage.

After several moments of caring for his wounds, Lizzie brought out a new piece of gauze and dampened it with some cool, fresh water and began to wipe the layers of sweat, blood and dried tears away from Ben’s face. The dirt that was caked into his pores and streaked across his cheeks aged him severely, and as it all washed away, Lizzie could start to see the familiar, handsome man underneath it all once again. As she stroked the damp gauze down over his chest and neck, a flash of light caught the ring on her finger and she stopped for a moment, gazing at it in dim fascination. Holding her hand up, she marveled at the simple beauty of it, and the promise that had been made to her with it. She was never going to be alone again. Smiling, she went back to tending to Benjamin, and as she lowered her hand, she realized that his eyes were partly open, and he was watching her. “Oh my gosh Ben! You’re awake!” She cried and started to collect the used medical supplies she had left thrown all over the bed. “Don’t move! Stay still for a few moments.” Frantically she grabbed handfuls and threw them onto the floor.

“Where’s Dustin?” He asked, his voice barely a whisper. “And why are you wearing that ring, Lizzie?”

Pulling the sheet back up to cover his chest, Lizzie shook her head, embarrassed. “The ring… uh… Thomas gave it to me. He said that he found it, thrown away.” Lizzie noticed that her voice was shaking as she spoke. “It’s yours isn’t it? I am so sorry Benjamin; I really had no idea where he got it when he gave it to me. He was just so wound up in the moment after everything that happened; he wanted to give me something to make a promise on. I don’t know where he is at the moment. If you like I can give it back to you, if you like… I mean its….” Struggling with shaking hands, she tried to pull the ring off, but her nervousness and fidgeting wouldn’t allow it.

“Just keep it.” Ben said in his low baritone voice. Lizzie could tell that he was deeply hurt with the fact that she was wearing it, but there was nothing she could do about it. He was injured, after all and it was her duty to keep him calm for as long as she could. “Where’s Dustin?” Ben repeated again, and then it suddenly came to her that the ring which was now on her finger, Ben had given to Dustin for sake keeping. A guilty feeling washed over her and she felt a little sick.

“Umm… well, something happened and Burnley got to Dustin.” Lizzie saw Ben’s hands start to tremble. “But it’s okay!! He got free and he’s safe now with Brock. Brock’s going to keep an eye on him until we all meet up again to escape. He’s in good hands, you know Brock’s a good person, and cares for all of us. We will find them really soon!” Lizzie waited, but Ben didn’t say anything. He remained silent on the bed, unmoving for several minutes. Feeling anxious an uncomfortable in the silence, Lizzie cleared her throat and went into nursing mode. “Benjamin, can you tell me what happened to you, because we need to get out of here as soon as possible.” Grabbing her bottle of water, she slid a hand underneath his head supporting him, and let him take a long drink of the cool liquid. Watching him for any distinguishable signs of trauma, she noticed that his eyes were fluttering open and closed. “Benjamin… Benjamin… can you open your eyes all the way for me please?” She asked, clutching the bottle in her hands. “I need to see if you have any sort of damage to your head.”

Benjamin took a deep breath and tilted his head up slightly. She could see that he was struggling. “Burnley… he stabbed me… and brought me here, saying he wanted to keep me alive… for… torture.” Taking a deep breath, Ben tried to push himself into a sitting position, but the bonds that were attached to his ankles and wrists kept him firmly in place. “I have to go find Dustin. Lizzie, you need to get me out of these.”

Placing a hand on the center of his chest, Lizzie gently pushed him back down onto the blood stained sheets. “Thomas went off to look for something to release you; he will be back soon, please just rest until he gets back. It looks like you’ve lost a lot of blood and you’re probably still incredibly weak. Lie still.”

“Burnley told me what he did to Dustin, and I can’t just sit here and wait for things to happen.” Slowly, Ben opened his eyes and looked directly at Lizzie. The sight she saw there caused her to drop the bottle of water she had in her hand. The liquid poured out onto the floor, mixing with a few remaining droplets of blood and slowly started to trickle down the drain. Benjamin’s eyes were not the simple mix of gray and green that she remembered, but instead they had small flecks of amber swirling inside of them. In the dim light, and shadows, with his emancipated state, Lizzie could have sworn that she was looking directly at Burnley, and not Ben.

Sprinting through the twisting corridors, Thomas found himself out of breath by the time that he reached the hall that would lead to the control room. Having gotten lost several times along the way, he realized that the path he had chosen to follow was taking longer than expected. Brock and Dustin were still nowhere to be found, and he knew that if time became a problem, he would have to resort to leaving with just Lizzie and Benjamin. Reaching the final stretch of hall, Thomas’s eyes immediately fell on a dark spot. Slowly, he approached it and gasped. He was looking at a massive, fresh puddle of blood. There were splashes of it lining one side of the wall, and he could tell that this was the evidence of a very recent shooting. Glancing around, Thomas couldn’t tell where the assailant or the victim was; the entire base was eerily quiet and peaceful. Pulling out his rifle, he hit the power button, and armed it; he had to be prepared for anything. Walking over to the door of the control room, he could see that the master panel controlling the door lock had been smashed, giving easy access to the main hub of the base. Thanking his lucky stars, Thomas squeezed in between the two steel doors and made his way up the small set of stairs.

As he stepped through the threshold of the corridor and into the main room, the first thing he could see was the bright, massive lights straight ahead of him that were streaming in through the shutters that had been left open. He moved forward, pushing a chair and some bloody bandages out of the way without a care and looked down through the large glass panels to the room below. Lizzie was caring for Ben, gently cleaning his wounds. He breathed a sigh of relief. From this vantage point, he could keep an eye on her while he searched the room. He didn’t like leaving her alone, but there was no other choice. Glancing down, Thomas saw the video monitors on the control panel and an idea hit him. He could use the CCTV system to locate Dustin and Brock, maybe even get a message to them so that they could all escape. Pulling the chair up, Thomas put the laser rifle on the panel in front of him and then started to scroll through the list of available cameras. His eyes desperately scanned through empty room after empty room, trying his best to find his friends. He realized that there was a small chance that they may have already found a way out and left, but it was highly doubtful. Dustin wouldn’t go anywhere without Ben, and Brock would probably be following close behind, sulking and depressed as usual. It was just a matter of finding where they went. As he reached the end of the list of cameras, Thomas let out a disappointed sigh, and then refreshed the feed. He had to find them.

He didn’t see the shadowy shape step out of the darkness and approach him from behind. Distracted, Thomas was concentrating on the images on the screen when he noticed something in the reflection of the glass. He tried to turn around, to look over his shoulder but it was too late. The man reached out with a blood stained hand and grabbed hold of a handful of his dark curls. Reaching up, Thomas grabbed the man’s wrist and tried to pull himself away, but it was no use, he had a firm grip that wouldn’t let go. His eyes went wide and a scream started to form in his throat as he felt the person behind him pull his arm back. There was no time to react before he then moved forward faster than humanly possible, shoving the front of Thomas’s face into the liquid crystal monitor. An intense pain shot through his head, as his vision started to dim and the world went out of focus. Toppling off the chair, Thomas landed on his back, groaning in pain as he looked up at his shadowy assailant. “Benjamin?” he whimpered.

Burnley stepped over to where Thomas had landed and aimed a well placed kick right to his midsection. Crying out in pain, Thomas could feel several of the ribs breaking and shifting underneath his skin. “Benjamin isn’t here right now. Nor do I think he will ever be again. The little boy has gone, gone away…. To where the crows and sparrows play!” The man’s voice mocked.

Gasping for breath, Thomas wiped the blood out of his eyes that had welled up from a cut just above his eyebrow and looked on in horror. He was staring at Burnley. It wasn’t the mere presence of the psychopath that frightened him, it was his horrific appearance. He was shirtless, with his chest and torso exposed, both of which were smeared with filth and blood. It looked like he had been crawling on all fours for some distance, his hands and arms grasping at the debris strewn floor. There was a jagged, open wound in his side that looked like it had been cut in with a scalpel, festering and oozing with infection, and a hole burned through his shoulder, an obvious sign of the blast from a laser pistol. But the worst part of his disheveled appearance was his face. His hair was damp and matted, partially covering one of his eyes. Noticing that Thomas was staring at him, Burnley smiled a toothy, sadistic grin at him. “Curious, are we? Well then take a closer look!” Springing onto Thomas’s prone body, Burnley straddled him, slamming his arms down onto the cold floor and brought his face close to his, pushing the hair away from his face. Thomas gasped, seeing that one of Burnley’s eyes had been completely destroyed. The eye socket had been hit by a electric blast, shattering bone and penetrating the iris and soft tissue of the eyeball. Thick, pulsing tendrils of shredded flesh hung there, dripping and streaming down his cheeks like macabre, bloody tears. “I guess no one will be mistaking me for my father any longer.” He laughed.

Disgusted and panicking, Thomas looked up to the control panel and saw the laser rifle still sitting there and knew that he had to make a move. Summoning all his strength, he lashed out; trying desperately to get away from the monster on top of him, but it was of no use. He was being held down with immense force and power. Burnley continued to laugh. “Haven’t they told you, Thomas? You can’t struggle and fight against me! It only excites and arouses me.” He moved his body down a little bit lower onto Thomas’s and positioned himself just over his crotch. Thomas could feel Burnley’s powerful, leather clad thighs squeeze tight against his hips, and sense the warmth from between his legs start to intensify. “Go right ahead and struggle if you want. It will only wear you out and sap away all your strength, which will make it so much easier for me to do whatever I wish with you.” Burnley leaned forward again, bringing his face close to Thomas, and a few drops of blood from the empty eye socket dripped down onto his cheek. Revolted, he tried to turn away. “I must admit that I didn’t have anything special planned for you; I could have easily let you just slip away, Thomas, but you ruined that. It’s ironic that you ended up here with me. You see, I’ve already fucked Dustin to the brink of death and I’ve also had my hands wrapped around Benjamin’s dick too many times to count, so it’s only fitting that I invite you to the party. I wouldn’t want you to feel left out. So, feel free to scream all you want. Beg for your life if you need to, I don’t mind.”

“Not a chance, asshole!” Thomas shouted, and spat right into his face. The wad of saliva and blood mixed hit Burnley in his good, amber colored eye and he snarled, reaching up to wipe it away. As Burnley let go of one of Thomas’s arms, he balled his hand into a fist and in a moment of pure adrenaline, broke free and managed to hit Burnley square across the jaw with it. Thomas’s knuckles made impact, but it wasn’t enough. Burnley didn’t even flinch. In retaliation, Burnley returned the punch, slamming his fist into the side of Thomas’s face. There was a sickening crunching sound as the cartilage in his nose broke, and the blood began to flow.

Momentarily stunned, Thomas could do nothing but lay there, the rage building up inside of him, but the pain making it almost impossible to do anything but suffer. Burnley grabbed his hands and pushed them up high above his head, holding them down by the wrists with his vice like fingers. They clutched and clawed at him, keeping him completely immobile as he started to run his free hand down over Thomas’s torso. Even the most tiny miniscule movement of Burnley’s fingers touching his body disgusted him, filling his stomach with a sour bile that he had to force down. Swirling his fingers over Thomas’s hip, Burnley suddenly stopped and the expression on his face changed to one of elation. “What is this?” Burnley asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling down at his unfortunate victim with blood flecked teeth. His fingers moved, and slipped between the folds of fabric, reaching, stretching, exploring the inner recesses of his pants. Thomas bit his bottom lip to keep from crying out, and had to force himself to keep breathing. He knew that if he panicked now and lost control, he would be helpless to fight against Burnley when the time came. He had to remain calm. Looking down at Thomas, Burnley removed his hand from his pocket and withdrew the vial of the Eden drug that he had taken from his private quarters. He held it up to the dim light and let the liquid sparkle in front of his eye with delight. “You’ve brought me a gift! How utterly fascinating. Thank you Thomas. This is exactly what I need to finish the game.” Slowly standing up, Burnley stepped away from Thomas’s body for a fraction of a second, and before he could react, Burnley turned around and put his foot on the side of his body, pressing down on the previously broken ribs. Thomas started to scream out in pain, but those screams were cut short by the feeling of pressure crushing his lungs and then a sickening popping sound as the shards of bone punctured his lung. Gasping for breath, Thomas closed his eyes for a moment, trying his best not to pass out.

Lifting his foot, Burnley leaned down and reached for Thomas again, grabbing him by the buckle of his belt and lifting his body off the floor slightly. Thomas let out a slight moan but could not bring himself to look Burnley in the face. Burnley was death, and he refused to accept it. He had too much to live for. With deft fingers, Burnley unlatched Thomas’s belt and slid it through the loops of his pants. The sound of the leather sliding through the material sounded like a snake hissing, it’s fangs bared and filled with poison, ready to strike. As the belt came lose from the loops, Burnley dropped him back down to the floor, and went to sit on the chair near the main console, wrapping the leather around his upper arm and securing it with the silver buckle. “Do you know what I hate the most about endings, Thomas?” Burnley asked, giving the belt a tight tug. Tapping his fingers against the crook of the inside of his arm, he flexed his fingers a few times and waited for that beautiful blue vein to start to rise up through his pale skin. “It’s the silence. Life is a book and as you start to read it, you knew that it was eventually going to end, but there were still so many pages to be treasured and savored! Then you got to thinking that maybe if you read a little more slowly, you could maybe avoid that inevitable ending that has been looming on the horizon. The suddenly one day it comes. The end. You find yourself touching the leather binding, running your fingertips over the embossed roses of the cover with more than a little remorse. Then the silence comes, like the absence of sound at the end of the world. You look up. It's a room in an old house. Or perhaps it's a seat in a garden, or even a square; perhaps you've been reading outside and you suddenly see the cars going by. Someone comes to ask what you will have for dinner, or two small boys run past you, wildly shouting; or else it's merely a breeze blowing a curtain, the white fabric unfurling into a room, brushing the papers on a desk. It is the sound of the world. But to you, the reader, it is only a silence, eerie and desolate, and you know your life is over.”

Thomas sat up slightly, pushing his back against a wall and clutching his shattered ribs with his arm. “You’ve got it all wrong, Burnley. It’s not about the ending at all.” Taking a shallow breath, Thomas grimaced through the pain and spoke quietly. “The ending of the story is just a place where words stop. Everyone is always afraid of it, so afraid that they fail to see that the most beautiful parts are hidden among the pages, in the lines of text that we read, the experiences we go through, it’s all part of life and living. If you can’t stop and appreciate these things, than the ending is hollow and meaningless.” He looked up and fixed his gaze on the monster before him. “Just like you, Burnley. Hollow and meaningless.”

Tapping his finger on the syringe, Burnley cocked his head to the side and glared at Thomas. “Is that supposed to insult me or hurt my feelings? If it is then you fail miserably. I don’t care about anything. The F.E.C. took that gift away from me. I am the stillborn cradle death of human emotions.” Turning his attention back toward the syringe, Burnley inserted the needle into his flesh, making contact with a vein easily and then pressed down on the plunger, sending the chemicals flowing into his blood stream. As the last drop of the amber liquid emptied itself out into his body, Burnley threw the vial down to the floor in front of Thomas, where the glass shattered, sending silvery bits all over the concrete. He loosened the belt and let it slip off his arm, and leaned back in the chair, letting the Eden drug flow through him. “Are you expecting a happy ending, Thomas Bell?” He asked, his eyes partially closed.

“Yes. I am.” Thomas replied through clenched teeth. He didn’t know what effect that the Eden drug would have on Burnley, but he could see that his breathing had slowed down and he appeared to be getting drowsy. Maybe it had some sort of sedative effect? All Thomas had to do was wait. He glanced around the room nervously. The rifle he had brought with him was still on the console in front of Burnley, armed and ready to be fired, but to reach that, he’d have to get uncomfortably close to him. With his injuries, Thomas knew that he would never survive a physical confrontation with him, he had to find another weapon. His eyes then went to the back of the room, where something caught his eye. At first all he could see was a glint of silver, shining brightly in the dim light, then as he looked closer, he noticed traces of red and gold. It was a sword, Burnley’s sword, the one he had used to slaughter all the Carnivores and scientists in the base. It was probably razor sharp, and if he could just get his hands on it, he could deliver one quick, lethal blow to Burnley’s neck, severing his head from his body in one fluid motion. Looking up, he could see that Burnley’s eyes were now fully closed, and he fell silent. He had to move, now. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Thomas tried to pull himself into a standing position, but the broken ribs wouldn’t let him move very much. Cursing to himself quietly, Thomas decided that he would have to crawl across the room to get the weapon. Once he had it in his hands, he could use it to gain leverage and get onto his feet. Wiping the blood off his face with the back of his hand, he started to slide his body along the wall, over to where the sword was propped up, one agonizing inch at a time. He could see it, just a few feet away from him, almost within his reach, but not quite. Once he had it in his hands, and dispatched Burnley, he could then use it to smash the electronic locks on Ben’s bonds, freeing him. Everything rested on him reaching that tempered piece of steel. The pain from the rib that had pierced his lung was becoming more intense, and he could now start to taste blood bubbling up in his throat. He had to be quick now. Stretching his arm out, he was only inches away from the metal when he heard a voice call out. A female voice…Lizzie’s voice. It echoed over the intercom system that was attached to the monitoring room below. This drew Burnley’s attention and he was on his feet in an instant, even faster than before. Thomas wasn’t sure what was going on, but a smile suddenly came across Burnley’s face, as he watched the scene unfold downstairs.

“Well what do we have here?” he said with a snarl. Panic raced through Thomas. Burnley had caught sight of Lizzie tending to Benjamin. If he got down there, he would certainly kill them both. Turning, Thomas looked at the sword, it was only one inch away. He stretched his arm out, his fingertips just coming into contact with the steel, when suddenly, the delicate angle in which the sword was propped up on gave way, and it clattered to the ground, leaving the room resonating with a low, metallic hum. Burnley whipped around quickly, in time to see Thomas finally get hold of the weapon, and he reached forward, grabbing the chair on which he was sitting on and hurled it towards the corner of the room with great force. Severely injured, Thomas could do nothing to avoid being hit, and as the heavy metal of the chair collided with his body, he dropped the sword in an attempt to cover his face. Burnley was on him the second that the chair made impact. With one hand, he grabbed the sword and the other; he tossed the chair out of the way, as if it were light as a toy. “Nice try, Thomas, but you don’t get to write the ending, I DO!” He stood up, and turned away from him, moving back to the control panel and hit a few buttons. Thomas could do nothing but watch. “It would seem that you brought my favorite Carnivore back to me.” He chuckled. “First you gave me the Eden drug, which I must thank you for… it has certainly refreshed me and given me the strength that I need to accomplish the remainder of my plan. I was starting to feel a little run down and weary. It was such a delightful pick me up. And now you leave me yet another gift, that little girl down there. Or should I say woman.. she’s not exactly a child anymore now is she hmm?”

“Burnley you mother fucker, you stay the hell away from her! You don’t need her!” Thomas shouted. He could feel the blood building up on the corners of his mouth as he spoke, and each breath he took felt like someone was driving a spike right into his lungs. “Leave her alone!”

Burnley tapped his sword on the side of his thigh for a moment. “Which would you rather have then hmm? If you had to make a choice, that is. I am pretty intent on killing someone today, but my options are always open, so I will let you decide. Are you willing to sacrifice Benjamin’s life for hers?”

“You won’t kill Benjamin.” Thomas shot back. “Everyone knows that he’s been your ultimate prize. You had so many chances to kill him and yet you keep backing down. You say it’s just because you want to torture him and make him beg for mercy, but the fact is that I don’t think you CAN kill him Burnley. Somewhere deep inside of you is the child that you once were, and he knows the truth in what happened with your past. Every single thing that you’ve blamed Benjamin for has been a lie, and you fucking know it, and yet you keep trying to keep that inner voice inside of your head silenced because you know that if it starts to speak to you again, you will know that you’ve been wrong all along. It’s time to face the truth, Burnley. You can’t kill Ben and I won’t let you kill Lizzie. The only person that is going to die here today is you. Can you feel the fiery claws as they reach to take you back into hell with them? Are you ready to answer for all the crimes that you’ve done, the atrocities that you’ve committed all for the sake of your fucking useless revenge?” Thomas lifted his head up and gave Burnley a look of utter defiance. “Even if it’s not by my hand that you fall today, you WILL die. The base has been lined with explosives that is set to detonate in less than an hour. Everything you worked so hard for, everything that you knew as ‘home’ and loved will be gone… destroyed… and nothing but ashes will be left.

Burnley looked down at the sword in his hand. The blade was still flecked with bits of blood that served as a reminder of all the lives he had taken. Thomas could see that the look of amusement on Burnley’s face had faded, giving way to a softer, almost innocent appearance. “Everything that I love…where is he?” he repeated with a whisper. His fingers loosened on the hilt of the sword and he let it fall to the ground. He turned away from Thomas and looked down to the observation deck below. “It’s time.” He whispered. Picking up the laser rifle from the top of the control panel, Burnley aimed it right at the console and pulled the trigger. The blast of electricity jumped out of the barrel and into the control panel, creating a huge shower of sparks which flashed with an intense brilliance that filled the room. The air was saturated with the noxious smell of burning plastic as the billows of smoke started to pour out from all the equipment. Burnley had completely destroyed the command system for the entire base. He walked to the center of the room, silently and picked up the bloodied piece of gauze that he had once wrapped up Brock’s lacerated hand with and made his way over to Thomas, who had now retreated to cower in a corner. Kneeling down in front of him, he gave him a sincere, almost serene gaze. “You said to me that everyone knows that I like to torture people and I’d say that’s pretty damn accurate. You see, I believe that ending a person’s life is just too simple.” Burnley clutched the material tightly in his hand. “I believe that if you show them what they fear the most, put it right in front of their fucking faces and make them deal with it, one of two things can happen. They can either rise above it and overcome, turning them into a stronger, more courageous person in the process, or… it can totally destroy them, reduce them to nothing more than a broken, pathetic individual filled to the brim with self doubt and shame.” He took a long deep breath and began to wind the bloodied gauze around his head, covering up the horrid empty eye socket. “Now you’d think that I’d be pleased that someone comes out of it on the positive side, but that’s where you are wrong. Those who do make it out get rewarded with the most exquisite death that they could ever have the pleasure of experiencing. After all, where’s the beauty without suffering? Now those whom I break are the ones that interest me the most. I delight in watching them go through their daily lives, thinking about all the guilt, pain, agony that I inflicted upon them. It excites me to know that their suffering was cause by my hands. And day by day, I kill them a little more. Benjamin isn’t dead yet, and that’s because I want him to be my greatest triumph. He’s a hard man to break, but I found a way… and that is to systematically inflict pain on each and every one of the people he’s ever cared for.”

“Burnley you’re sick. Your brain is diseased and twisted with all the sadistic garbage that the F.E.C. force fed you, and sadly I don’t think there is a way to save you now.” Thomas’s eyes flashed with rage. “And I swear to you that on all that is good in this world that I will be the one that ends your life!”

“I’d rather not think of it as an illness, but genius instead, and as for you killing me, I believe that your intention is admirable but I should tell you that you are not the first person who have said those words to me. I can assure you that each and every one of those unfortunate bastards suffered.” Burnley said as he slowly stood up and walked away from Thomas. “But because you’ve been so kind to me, I am going to leave you here now, with the best seat in the house.” He slung the rifle over his back and kicked the sword out of the way. “The opening acts are finished; it’s time for the headliner. You, Thomas Bell get to be my VIP.” Making his way over to the door, he punched a few numbers on the keypad and the upper metal door slid open. “I’ve disabled the shutters, they can’t be opened or closed, and activated the mirror system. You can see out of them, but those below can’t see in. I’ve also disabled the intercom. So you won’t be able to contact them either. When I leave, this door will seal shut as part of the safety protocol in the event the main console gets damaged. It won’t open again.” Burnley hesitated for a moment and shrugged. “Unless you are clever and figure out a way. It’s up to you. I am going down there to join the main stage. I really wish I could enjoy the torment and agony that you will be going through, up here all alone; having to watch me murder your friends, but there’s someone more important than you waiting for me.” Shifting the rifle up over his shoulder, Burnley walked out the door, and it slid shut behind him, sealing off the room. Thomas began to sceam.

“Lizzie, you have to go find something to deactivate these locks.” Benjamin said, giving her a stern look. “We can’t wait any longer for Thomas to return, you have to go out there on your own.”

Feeling a little shocked by his suggestion, Lizzie let go of Ben’s hand and shook her head. “I can’t do that. I promised him that I would wait here for him to return, and I am not going to leave you here all alone.”

“There’s a possibility that he might not make it back here at all, Lizzie. Burnley is out there, and if he finds Thomas, he won’t hesitate to kill him. You have to go find a way to release me so that we can go find him together. Stop and think about it, he’s been gone for quite a while now, and every single minute is precious now. If we want to get out before this place explodes, we need to take action now, so I need you to be brave and help me here.”

“No.” Lizzie said, looking away from him. She couldn’t stand to look at Ben now, those horrible little flecks of amber color in his eyes and the rising tone in his voice brought back terrible memories that chilled her to the bone. “I am not leaving you Benjamin. Not even for a second.” She whispered, turning away.

The sudden sound of footsteps moving towards the door caught her attention and her hand instinctively went to the gun hidden well within the depths of her pocket. Looking around she realized that there was no place to hide; she would have to stand her ground and defend Ben if needed. Long moments of waiting passed, the sound drawing closer and closer until they were right outside in the hall. She could hear the quiet whispering of voices for several moments and then the door slid open. She was praying for it to be Thomas that stepped inside, she needed him to return as fast as possible to deal with Benjamin, she couldn’t do it on her own. There was an unspoken awkwardness between the two of them, and it made her feel uncomfortable. Finally a dark shape broke the shadowy edges of the room, slipping inside and Lizzie let out a scream.

I followed Brock down the twisting corridors in silence. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk to me at all, and I didn’t want to make matters worse by pushing him, but I had to know what was going through his head. After the initial shock of Burnley’s death had worn off, I was left with an unfulfilled, unsatisfied feeling. Had I done the right thing by murdering him without hesitation, or care for Brock’s feelings? Had I been careless not to even consider them? I expected more reaction from him after Burnley hit the floor, anger, rage, maybe even retribution, but there was nothing there in his eyes, and that frightened me. On top of this, one shot was all it took to bring Burnley down, and I couldn’t help but to think that maybe it was all some sort of diversion that he created, to force us into a trap. It was far too easy to take him out of the situation, but then again, he wasn’t expecting me to recover from his torture either. Perhaps he failed to fully understand the faith and trust we had in one another, and realized that he was going to lose and made critical errors that led to his death. Either way, I still walked cautiously a few paces behind Brock, trying to keep my guard up, fearing that the bastard would jump out of the shadows at any moment and take him away from me.

Brock led us down a particularly dark set of stairs and then to a large, narrow corridor with only one door set in the wall. Stopping in front of it, he turned toward me and spoke very quietly. “This is where Burnley was keeping Benjamin. I am not quite sure what happened to him, but I know he’s been injured. He was bleeding a lot, that’s all I know. So when you go in, be prepared for anything.” Brock turned his attention to the silver hand print scanner on the wall and started to work his way through a series of codes. I glanced up at him and saw that his beautiful boyish features seemed warn and thin, harshly illuminated by the glowing panel.

“When I go in?” I looked at him curiously. “Aren’t you going to come in with me?”

Brock continued to enter codes, his eyes scanning over the list of random numbers and alphanumeric patterns, to get the door open. “How long has it been since you’ve seen Benjamin, Dustin? Not since he was abducted from the Messenger base during the Carnivore attack. He’s been waiting for you all these months to come here and rescue him, and you’ve been literally dying to see him as well. I am not needed or wanted in there. My presence would only complicate things. You can do it on your own. I’ll wait out here.” Brock’s slender fingers hit the enter button on the panel and I could hear the doors unlocking, but they didn’t open yet. “Go to him, Dustin.”

I slammed my hand over the steel doors in front of Brock. He flinched and looked at me out of the corner of his eye; he couldn’t bring himself to look straight at me. “I am not going in without you. I know that you’re probably still really pissed off at me, and at the situation that I put you in, but you have to know that I still care very much for you. I should have told you that a long time ago. It was never my intention to throw you away or treat you coldly. Every damn time that I look at you I regret kissing you like that back in the infirmary. You deserve better than to be treated that way, and I understand now why you gravitated towards Burnley. He was offering you everything that I couldn’t, but you must understand that he thinks that he’s a god, and can play with our feelings and emotions. There is zero capability for love in his life, he used you, like he uses everyone.” I had to stop for a second. I could tell that my words were upsetting Brock and my tone was getting harsh. I was walking a very fine line with him, and I did not want to do anything that might set him off. I knew that I had to say something positive to him or else risking losing the little bit of understanding he had given me. “Burnley may have been a psychotic bastard, a rapist and a murderer, but he did do one good thing before he died, and that was save the life of my best friend.”

“Burnley…” The word hung on Brock’s lips as though he was tasting it. I didn’t like the way he seemed to drift off and become distant and distracted at the thought of Burnley’s name. I saw the fingers on his injured hand twitch slightly and his eyes flutter. I took a deep breath. I needed to tell Brock about Burnley’s deception, but I still couldn’t bring myself to do it. Part of me knew that I hurt Brock even worse by killing Burnley, and I knew that by revealing all the information that he had told me about how he was planning on using him, it would inevitably make things worse. I was here with Brock, talking, alone. I couldn’t let this moment go to waste, not one second of it. 

Brock turned around to finally face me, and the expression on his face was one of utter defeat. “In all these years we’ve spent together, everything that we’ve been through, that’s all you can think of me as… a friend? Have I not shown you enough devotion and kindness, to prove my love for you? I can’t control these emotions and feelings, Dustin. It’s not like a switch I can turn off and on. Every morning when I wake up, I think about you, and the wonderful things that you are going to come up with during the day. I love to sit and watch you write music, because I know how much it moves you, it’s your passion and your place in life…. To write these beautiful, haunting melodies that can make people soar high into the heavens and make them feel what it’s like to really believe in something. Every single time you hand me another piece to play for you, it’s like you’ve given me a part of yourself, and allowed me to take a look into your heart and share the same feelings and emotions with you. That’s why I fell so hard for you. I lost my mother when I was a teenager. She was sick a lot, and everyone wanted to keep away, give her space…but not me… she needed me. I sat by her side playing music until the very end. It was the only thing I could to do to make her smile. After her death I resorted to music to help me deal with the pain of her loss, but it got tough after a while, I had almost given up, when you came in at the right time and took all the grief away.”

He took a step away from the door and looked off into the distance for a moment. I had never known about Brock’s mother before, he never spoke of her. This new information was breaking my heart. I had always just assumed that Brock was infatuated with me, that it couldn’t possibly be something so profound and deep. Now that I knew, I felt terrible. I immediately thought about Burnley’s plan to take Brock ‘home’ and then erase every trace of their existence. It was the only way that he could exist in the past for an extended period of time without upsetting the natural order of things, but at what a cost? Ben had stated several times that having a son is what stopped him from drinking himself to death, if he never had a son could it be possible Ben would have died much earlier? And Brock… would his mother have suffered the fate to die alone in her bed, if her son wasn’t at her side? Her last moments wouldn’t be holding onto Brock’s arm and listening to him play for her, but instead, they would be of an empty, silent room. In a way, Burnley’s death had prevented any of this from happening, and for that I was grateful. Brock would never be put through that terrible ordeal, I had seen to that myself. There was no way in hell I would ever subject this man to any amount of pain and agony again. Noticing my silence, Brock spoke up, talking quietly and finally saying what was on his mind. “Dustin…I have to know; because it’s eating me up inside… if it wasn’t Benjamin… would it be me that you loved?”

I’ve never been good at speaking to people. I don’t like confrontations and extreme situations where all the attention is on me, but I’ve learned to do my best and deal with it. There have been times in the past when I’ve lied to someone to spare their feelings or shift the mood. I never planned it out or thought about it, it just sort of naturally happened. It was a pathetic, childish self-defense mechanism that I should have grown out of upon reaching my adult years, but I never did. Now, years later as I stood there in front of one of the most important people in my life, I felt myself wanting to slip back into that non-confrontational state of mind and just tell him what he wanted… no… what he needed to hear that would put his mind at ease and help us get out of here. The words could easily slip off my tongue, soothing and reassuring him that he wasn’t wasting his life trying to love me, because I too, loved him as well… but that wasn’t the case. I couldn’t love him the same way that I loved Benjamin. The time for gentleness was over. He had to know the truth. There was the possibility that my words would serve as the dagger that would cut away the last remnants of our friendship, but I couldn’t think of any other way to get through to him. I felt as though I had already lost him to Burnley; he was already dead inside and nothing I could do would bring him back. I had to be the one to throw the handful of dirt on his grave and make him realize the truth. He would either lay down and accept his fate, or find a way to claw up and save himself from the darkness that was eating away inside of him. I couldn’t make the decision for him.

I searched his face for something, for one last glimmer of hope and found nothing. Where was that goofy smile that I missed so much? Where was the innocent guitar player that lived for the moment, never taking himself seriously or caring what other people thought of him? Had we come so far into the future, far away to lose sight of our true selves, or had we always been this way, and was only now just noticing it? Taking a breath, I tried my best to force myself into a convincing level of affirmation. “It’s going to be Benjamin, Brock. It always been and it always will be, and I am sorry. But I promise that I will never shut you out of my life. The first time I saw you on stage I knew that I was looking at an insanely talented guitarist. You were playing with such passion that it almost broke my heart, and now I know why. You might not say much, and keep your emotions sealed up within yourself, but they are there, if you pay enough attention. I see them, I hear them every single time you pick up a guitar.” I gently touched the cold, hard cast on his hand, picturing the broken bones concealed inside of their protective cocoon. “The true love of your life isn’t me, and it isn’t Burnley… it’s the music.” 

Reaching out, Brock wrapped his arms around me and drew me into a tight embrace. I slid my arms around his back and clutched him tightly to my chest. It wasn’t a completely apologetic hug; he was still distant and it was obvious that he was holding back, but it was a start. I could feel his thin body trembling against mine, and he held on to me for dear life. It had been too long since I had been in his arms like this, and I had almost forgotten the soft, delicate touch of his skin. All the anger and rage fell away from him as I held him in my arms, leaving the damage wounded soul that he once was exposed. I expected fury, wrath and unadulterated hate from the words I had just spoken to him, but instead my confession to him brought about the exact opposite. He didn’t say a single word, but his body language spoke volumes. Finally he understood now that I loved, and only could love Ben.

I didn’t want to let go of him, but I knew that I had to. This was a turning point in both of our lives, the unwritten chapter finally penned in blood and tears. I couldn’t say that I was sorry for all that had happened, because I knew that he didn’t want excuses. I couldn’t promise him a life of happiness after this either, all I could do was hold him in my arms for this one brief moment and reassure him that no matter what, I would always love him like family. Wiping tears away, we finally managed to collect ourselves enough to focus on the task at hand. Brock slipped his messenger bag back over his shoulder and unlocked the door again, and then turned around to face me. “You sure that you are ready for this?” he asked. I picked up a small note of apprehension in his voice that startled me a bit. It seemed strange and unusual, laced with a hint of caution and warning. I assumed that it was because he said that Ben had been injured, and was trying to prepare me in advance, I cast all doubts aside and managed to give him a reassuring smile. He didn’t smile back.

“I think so…” For a moment my mind wandered back to Burnley and what he had done to me; the awful things he said to me to force feed me guilt, letting it fester and rot inside of me until I exploded. His plan had backfired though, he thought that Benjamin would be the one to suffer the wrath of my inner demons, but little did he know, it was Brock who bore the weight of it all. He had almost driven us apart, but now standing there in front of that door, I could see that we were the ones who were the victors. Standing together, side by side, with the bastard dead by my own hand, I felt strong, and confident. We had much to work through, but this was the first glimmer of hope that reassured me that all was not lost. It was the first time in a long time that I felt this way, and I didn’t want this feeling to end.

I stepped forward to move into the room and Brock stretched his arm out in front of my chest. “Wait. Let me go first, just in case…” he said sternly.

“Just in case of what?” I asked. Before he could answer, he had triggered the door opening mechanism and stepped inside. I thought about what he said, and I realized that he was referring to the fact that Ben might be already dead. The thought of that made my heart sink. I fought so hard to get here and save him, and to lose him at this moment would be devastating. He had to be alive. He had to be. I took a moment to collect myself, moving back away from the doors and let Brock go in. 

Lizzie lifted the gun up and pointed it at the door as it opened. Her finger was arched and ready to pull back on the trigger when the dark shape walked past the shadows on the edge of the room and into the light. She let out a scream. Looking down at Benjamin in relief, she could feel the tears of joy starting to run down her cheeks. “It’s Brock.” She whispered to him. Ben didn’t smile, but breathed a quiet sigh of relief and looked over to the door. Lizzie lowered the gun and ran over to Brock’s side, immediately wrapping her arms around his waist and giving him a crushing hug. Moving his head slightly to try and get a better look towards the door, Benjamin’s eyes searched, hoping that there would be another person that followed him in. Holding his breath he waited, watching Lizzie interact with Brock desperate to catch a glimpse of that messy black hair, or that disheveled white shirt and bow-tie, but there was nothing. Behind them, the door slid shut and Ben’s heart sank.

“Oh my gosh!” Lizzie cried, wiping her face on Brock’s flight jacket. “I was so worried about you! Where have you been?” When he didn’t immediately hug her back, Lizzie calmed herself down and let go of him, taking a step back to get a good look at him and spotted his arm. “Brock, what happen out there?”

Looking away from her and down at the cast on his arm, he shook his head. “It’s a long story. One that I’d rather not get into at the moment Lizzie.”

Noticing his embarrassment, Lizzie smiled at him. “Hey it’s okay; you can fill me in on everything when we get back home! We can share stories. I’ve got a good one for you too.” She shifted nervously from foot to foot. “We’re in trouble here.” She pointed back to the center of the room where Ben was being restrained on the gurney. “Burnley hurt Benjamin pretty badly, but he’s in stable condition for the moment. We have to find the others and get out of here as soon as possible because there are explosives attached to the base and they are going to detonate in about 45 minutes. There’s a vehicle waiting for us outside, but we have to get to it.”

Brock looked over to Benjamin’s position across the room curiously and spoke quietly to Lizzie, keeping his voice down low so that it was not overheard. “If he’s stable and conscious, then why not get him up and moving. We can use him.”

She gave Brock a irritated glance, annoyed at his last seemingly dispatched comment. “I wish it were that easy. He’s been through a lot, Burnley has beaten him three times, and each time brought him closer to death, he’s still weak, Brock and might not be able to help us out much at all. I know that we need to hurry here, but we can’t rush without risking injuring him more. Also, Burnley put some sort of electronic locks on him, and we can’t free him without something to damage the locks or the code to break it. Thomas went to the control room up above there to try to find something that could free him.” Lizzie pointed to the observation room high above them and then her voice trailed off. “That’s interesting.” She said, staring intently at the large panels. “The windows weren’t like that before.”

Following her gaze, Brock looked up curiously. Only a short time ago was with Burnley in that room, looking down at the helpless Benjamin restrained to the bed. For a moment, he could still hear Burnley whispering to him, and feel the heavy pressure of his fingertips and they danced along his skin. The words that he said still fluttered about inside of Brock’s mind like a firefly trying to escape a glass jar. They illuminated his thoughts and chased away the shadows that were still lurking about, trying to cloud his head with impure things. He was tired and exhausted, and all he wanted to do was go lay down someplace safe and warm, with strong arms wrapped around him that would chase all the demons away. Sighing quietly to himself, Brock focused and brought his mind back to focus on what Lizzie was looking at. The windows that were once transparent were now totally dark, concealing the room above completely. It was oddly unsettling.“It’s probably some sort of energy saving mode that activates when it isn’t being occupied.” He noticed the concern in her face. “Thomas probably found something and is on his way back here as we speak.”

“Oh I hope so. We have to get out of here. If Burnley finds us here, there’s no telling what he would do.” Lizzie said frantically.

Brock looked over to Ben and then shook his head, lowering his voice even more. It was obvious that he didn’t want him to hear the conversation that was taking place between the two of them. “Burnley isn’t a danger to us anymore, Lizzie.” He said, his voice quivering and cracking with emotion.

Lizzie started to feel uncomfortable standing next to Brock. Since he entered the room, he had been cold and distant to her, which was unusual for him. Now with the mention of Burnley’s name, she noticed that his eyes went dark, and his skin turned a whiter shade of pale. Something was upsetting him. Her thoughts went to the horrible things Dustin had told her about the torture and rape he had to endure, and she started to tremble, thinking that maybe Burnley had done the same thing to Brock. He was like a brother to her, and she couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to him. Not wanting to upset him any further, but desperate to know the truth, she met his gaze with her innocent blue eyes and drew in a breath. “Why is he no longer a danger, Brock? What happened? Please tell me.”

“I killed him.” Stepping into the room, the steel double doors closed quietly behind me, and I stood at the exit to the room, unable to see past Brock and Lizzie just ahead of me. They both turned to look at me and I lifted my head, taking a step into the light. I felt the warmth of the bulbs high overhead wash over me and saturate me with their intense brilliance. Those lights seemed to wash away every bit of fear and terror that had crept into me, replacing it with the courage that I needed to finally make it through to the end. I walked forward, drawing near to Brock and Lizzie, I could see that her eyes were wide, and her expression was one of shock. Brock, on the other hand, seemed to retreat a bit more into himself and took a step back, moving away from me.

“Burnley’s dead?” Lizzie whispered. “I don’t believe it.”

Before I could say anything else, Brock interrupted. “We can’t spend any more time waiting, I am going to try and get those locks off Benjamin so we can get the hell out of here. You two can stand here and arrange funeral plans if you want, but I am not sticking around to find out what kind of flowers you pick out.” Moving quickly, he left the two of us alone and made his way over to the steel gurney in the center of the room. Normally I would have been shocked and floored by such a off the cuff, rude comment, but I just let it slip. Brock was still trying to deal with things, and I had to let him work it out himself. Even if that meant a period where he was cold and uncaring; it was just part of the healing process that he had to go through. At least I could be here with him now, and offer help every step of the way, whether he wanted it or not. I wasn’t going to let him go through it alone.

I watched him walk away and then I realized that Ben was now only a few feet away from me. My heart raced. He looked more like a corpse than a living person laying there with that bloody sheet draped over him. His skin was ashen pale, and his lips were a terrible shade of blue, but every now and then I could see his chest rising and falling underneath that material. Bound at his wrists and ankles, I saw horrible red rings of torn flesh underneath the cuffs from where he had been fighting, trying to free himself from his bonds. As Brock approached him, I saw him bend down and whisper something into Ben’s ear. Underneath his closed eyes, I could see tears began to form and stream down over the side of Benjamin’s face, absorbed by the filthy sheet. Brock straightened up, and then he looked across the room right at me, our eyes met for a moment and I felt confused. What had he just said to Ben? Did he tell him that I was here in the room, that I finally came for him and we can get out of here together? Or did he tell him that I murdered his son? I couldn’t tell. I watched as Brock then turned his attention to the electronic locking mechanism and started to examine it. Stepping forward, I started to walk over to them, I needed to be at Ben’s side now, I needed to speak to him, to touch him and reassure him that everything was going to be okay. He was only a few feet away from me. Suddenly, Lizzie reached out and gripped my wrist with her hand, her small fingers wrapping around it and holding me in a vice like grip, stopping me in mid step. Curious, I stopped and looked to her in wonder.

“Dustin, I know that you want to be over there with Benjamin so badly, but I need to talk to you for a moment in private, for just a moment. Please?” She asked gently.

I glanced back at Brock and Ben, and I could see that neither of them was speaking to one another. Brock was fiddling with the locks, and Ben had relaxed a bit, leaning his head back casually onto the pillow. He was safe, at least for the moment. I had waited for so long to see him again, another few minutes wouldn’t matter. “Sure Lizzie.”

Pulling me over to the far corner of the room, she finally let go and positioned herself in front of me. Thankfully she was much shorter than I and from where I was standing, I could see keep an eye on the center of the room. “I want to know how Burnley died, and don’t leave anything out. I need to know exactly what happened. It’s important.”

“Lizzie, he’s dead. He’s not going to hurt you, me, or anyone else ever again.” I said to her gently. I could see that her soft face was lined with worry and fear, but I didn’t know why. With Burnley gone, the only threat in the base was the explosives, and since Brock was already working on freeing Ben, we were on the verge of making it out. All we needed was Thomas. I realized that must be what she was so concerned with. He was out there alone, and I had to reassure her that he would be safe. Surely what is what she wanted to hear. “Listen, it’s almost over. By the time that Brock gets Ben free, Thomas will be back and we can all escape. You have to just trust me that everything is going to be okay and keep it together a little longer.”

“Stop talking to me like I am some kind of hysterical woman! I’ve been through just as much shit as you have Dustin, and I am far from having a breakdown of any sort. So don’t coddle me or treat me like I am some sort of minor character here. Burnley’s hurt each of us in some way, he’s bored holes in our souls that will never be able to be fully closed. For what he’s done to me… I need to know, that he’s dead.” Her eyes started to well up with tears, and I knew that even with her strength, the entire ordeal with Burnley was starting to take it’s toll on her.

Before she could shed a single tear, I placed my hands on her shoulders and she looked up at me with her soft, blue eyes. The last time I had seen those eyes, Thomas had just proposed to her and they were filled with such love and light. Now that light was beginning to fade, and she was desperately trying to hold on for as long as she could, not just for herself, but for Thomas as well. “There was a confrontation in the corridor a few levels up.” I started to explain things to her, but then realized that she didn’t need to know the details, she didn’t need to know about Brock and Burnley. As far as that was concerned, I considered it over and done with, a private matter that was dealt with. I decided to make the explanation as vague as possible and still try to reassure her as best I could. “Brock and I were looking for Ben, just like we had planned, only we didn’t find him, we found Burnley instead. After a brief altercation, I shot him, twice. Once in the shoulder and then once in the head. The bolt of electricity hit him directly, and on impact, he fell. His body crumpled down in front of me, blood pooling out from underneath and we both knew that was the end of him. No one could get up from that. Brock and I left the body in the corridor above and resumed our search. That’s when we found you. Lizzie, he’s dead. Trust me.”

“I want to. Believe me, I want to believe that he’s dead. I can’t help this feeling like this isn’t the end of it yet. He’s got one last trick up his sleeve, a trap and we’re all playing right into it. For the first time in a long time, I am afraid, truly afraid… not just for myself but for Thomas. He’s still out there, all alone and I can’t help him.” Lizzie said with a small voice.

Bending down slightly, I drew her into a tight hug and held onto her for long moments. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tight as I whispered to her. “We will get through this, together. I promise.” I couldn’t help but to let my eyes wander back over to Brock and Ben. Brock had stopped what he was doing and was looking back at us, with an expressionless gaze that chilled me right to the bone. I knew that he and Lizzie were always close, and suddenly I felt strangely uncomfortable holding her this close with him looking on. I slowly let her go and he returned to fiddling with the locks. There was something still bothering him, I could easily tell, but it would have to wait until we were free of the F.E.C. base. We simply didn’t have time to get into it right now. I cleared my throat and smiled at Lizzie. “Let’s go see if we can offer any help to Brock.”

I started to walk away once again when she called to me. “There’s more I want to tell you. It’s about Ben.”


End file.
